Contents

Summary

A Spanish research institution has developed a simple, eco-friendly and easily reproducible method for the synthesis of quantum rods in water. The material obtained has an enhanced fluorescent intensity and a great functionalization capacity, which makes it interesting for applications in optoelectronics and in biomedical imaging, among others.
Industrial partners are being sought to collaborate through a patent licence agreement.

Partner sought

We are looking for industrial partners, from the sector of quantum dot technology, companies interested in the use and exploitation of this fabrication method, under patent license.

Description

Earlier studies suggest that electronic structures and optical properties of band edge have strong dependence not only on the size but also on the shape of nanocrystals. If compared quantum rods vs. quantum dots, the firsts show an enhanced fluorescent signal and significant differences in the polarization of the emission.
In order to be used in biomedical applications, quantum rods need to be synthesized in water environment, as all biological environments are water based. So far, quantum rods have been produced by the hot injection method at a very high temperature and in organic medium, from which they are difficult to isolate. Surface silanization is needed to make them soluble in water.
The present method is a colloidal hydrothermal process for obtaining quantum rods purely in water without surface silanization. It is easy and highly reproducible with less cumbersome manipulations of the temperature and reaction conditions. The synthesis in water is also beneficial as it is easy to separate the particles after formation and it requires no post-synthesis treatment in high temperatures to obtain the particles in solid state and remove excess solvent.
The quantum rods obtained have larger absorption cross section, faster radiative decay rate, bigger Stokes shift, and can be functionalized with multiple binding moieties.
The Spanish research centre is searching for a Company interested in the development and commercialization of this method under a license agreement.The group involved in the technology has broad experience in the area and is open to collaborate with possible interested industrial partners.

Advantages and innovations

- Low-cost process.
- Sustainable production.
- Easily scalable method.
- The enhanced fluorescent signal from Quantum Rods makes them ideal probes for single molecule tracking.
- The emission of single Quantum Rods can be reversibly switched on/off by external electric fields.
- Due to their rod morphology, they may be used as polarized emitters for light-emitting diodes in the field of optoelectronics or as biological labelling reagents with interest in the field of biotechnology.

Development stage

Available for demonstration

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted

Register your interest

How it works

Tell us about yourself

We’ll discuss with you

We put the right partners in touch

EEN help you find the right partner, rather than you going it alone.

Our role is to review and collate the most suitable submissions,
and then send them to the client who posted the opportunity.
We consult with you, and the client, to make the process professional and easy.

These are live opportunities. Your registration of interest on
the site is just like a professional approach to a business at a networking event.
To stand the best chance of success, make your submission really sing.
Sell why the client who posted the opportunity should work with you.
Excite them. Ask questions. Try and avoid copy and pasting words from elsewhere.

Once the client has chosen their partner, we'll introduce them
over email and keep in touch with both parties to see how it's going.
Sometimes things progress quickly. Sometimes because of changing
priorities for either party, things progress slowly, but you never
know - your next big business break could start right here.